New Georgia voting equipment gets a passing grade from testing company

Georgia’s new voting system passed equipment tests by a company hired to evaluate it for the state.

The certification test results, released Monday, indicated that touchscreens, election computers, ballot scanners and other machinery can handle the stresses of an election.

The tests identified one issue, when a ballot scanner suffered a “memory lockup” after reading 4,500 ballots. The problem was resolved by restarting the scanner.

The testing by Pro V&V evaluated the voting equipment’s functionality. It didn’t grade the security of the $107 million voting system by Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems.

Georgia’s new voting machines passed tests by a private company, Pro V&V, to ensure their accuracy and reliability. Dominion Voting Systems is selling Georgia 30,000 touchscreens that are attached to printers to create paper ballots.

Starting with the presidential primary on March 24, all Georgia voters will use touchscreens attached to printers that produce paper ballots. Voters will then be able to review their ballots before inserting them into optical scanners for tabulation. Ballots will be stored for audits and recounts.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger issued his certification that the Dominion system is reliable and accurate on Friday after receiving the Pro V&V test results.

The certification allows the voting system to be used in elections. Up to six counties will test the system during local elections this November.